


Wolves Like Us

by stifledlaughter



Category: 10th Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Yuletide 2020, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28160841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stifledlaughter/pseuds/stifledlaughter
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a waitress, a wolf, and a baby who lived on the edge of the forest.She told her baby boy the usual stories about Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and so on. But she also told him the stories of Acorn the dwarf, of mice in a castle who saved her, of a friendly, confused dog who tried his best. The wolf laughed at the fairy tale films she showed their baby, and then told his pup the real versions of these tales.---(Or, what comes after Happily Ever After.)
Relationships: Virginia Lewis/Wolf
Comments: 9
Kudos: 19
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Wolves Like Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Emilise284](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emilise284/gifts).



> Hello to this Treat recipient - I hope you enjoy!  
> I rewatched the series for this prompt after not having seen it for fourteen years and was fairly happy that the show held up! It also reminded me of how influential the humor and storytelling was on my own writing. I watched this show so often when I was a young teen, and could still quote lines along with it during my rewatch :D  
> So the show ended with the sentiment of “and then there was a crisis in the Kingdoms”. And then the show never (to my knowledge) did an actual sequel explaining that, so I am going to say they did live happily ever after without anything else going on in the Kingdoms.  
> The recipient requested no Tony and no character death, so neither of those are contained in here. I also threw in a few OCs for Virginia and Wolf to interact with to further the story.

  
  


Once upon a time, there was a waitress and a wolf who began their life together on the edge of the forest. 

\---

When they first landed back in New York City, Virginia spent quite a bit of time working out what needed to be explained to Wolf about her world. 

As someone who had flitted from place to place, Wolf had to be talked into the concepts of ‘working at the same place to earn an income’, since he was not going to be able to hunt to provide for his family here. (As amusing as Virginia found the idea of Wolf sprinting around Central Park chasing after fat and content squirrels, she didn’t feel like dealing with Central Park Police. She was also unsure of how well he’d get along with the coyotes that lived there and wasn’t interested in finding out.)

They’d gone over possible jobs for him - food delivery person, given how fast he could run. Security guard, since he was so strong. Tour guide, once he got to know the city well enough, due to his vivacious personality. 

But the obvious answer wasn’t actually obvious until someone else offered it. 

A regular at Virginia’s work - a different restaurant, given, well, how things had gone down at the other- had given Virginia a gift card for Christmas. “I’m a vegetarian and my brother-in-law gave me this for Christmas- it’s one of those fancy butcher shops that I never go into,” she said apologetically, pressing the card into Virginia’s hand. “Eat well for the baby!” 

Virginia, who had started to show at this point, thanked her and mused on how much meat to vegetable ratio her future child would be eating. Given the father, she suspected that a gift card to a butcher shop would come quite in handy. 

And so, one Saturday morning, they were off to an expensive butcher shop in the East Village, Wolf talking excitedly about how he had not tasted lamb in so long, and perhaps they had a nice cut of pork belly, or, if the stars aligned, venison. 

Within seconds of entering the shop, Wolf inhaled deeply and exclaimed, “ _ Meat!”  _

Several women grouped together near the front of the counter startled, but the greying man behind it clapped his hands. “Yes! A fellow meat enthusiast, I see?” His accent rolled in his mouth, like tumbling stones, and he grinned wildly. “What do you like, lad?”

“Anything fresh and vivid with the blood of life,” responded Wolf, his voice taking on a dreamy tone. “I want to be able to  _ taste _ the joy of the lamb, the serenity of the cow!” 

One of the women frowned. “I’ve never tasted the joy of a lamb.”

Wolf lifted his head into the air and sniffed several times. “Good sir, I believe you have lamb here, do you not?” He tilted his head and sniffed again. “Quite fresh, too, if I’m not mistaken. And I never am, when it comes to meat. This one just might have the joy I seek.”

“Got it in just this morning from upstate,” said the butcher, sounding pleased. “Magical nose you got there?”

Virginia coughed and patted her husband firmly on the back before he could respond with anything relating to the fact that magic was actually very real, but not in his nose. “Perhaps you can guide us to purchase something with this very generous $50 giftcard?” 

“Quite, quite! Now I can tell you are a man of discerning nature, so perhaps you would like what we have in from our beef supplier, all grass-fed, no hormones…” 

Content to let Wolf take the lead, Virginia sat down at a little chair the butcher had provided and mentally zoned out. She peacefully watched her mate talk up a storm about different cuts and the ‘essence of vivacity’ he could taste in the air when the butcher showed him the shop’s offerings. 

It was nice to sit back and let someone else make the decisions. After her experience in the Kingdoms, with the weight of her destiny on her shoulders, she gladly handed the reins over to Wolf. 

She wasn’t sure she’d actually have someone she could reliably hand them over to. But as Wolf had proved so reliable and loyal in the end, she surprised herself with how quickly she felt at ease stepping aside to let him steer a conversation or decide on what they’d have for dinner. 

“Are you Italian, by chance?” asked the butcher to Wolf, and he opened his mouth to probably ask what ‘Italian’ was when Virginia cut in, sweetly, “Oh he’s from here and there, military family you know, oh Wolf darling can you help me up? I want to look at the ribs.” 

Possible crisis averted, Virginia hemmed and hawwed over the ribs which all looked frankly the same to her. However, she did notice they smelled particularly delightful, more so than the chicken that Wolf had turned his nose up at.

Wolf took a few deep sniffs and said, “Hmm, this one, older male, very tender, but  _ this _ one, younger female, no little lambs out of her I’d say, so young and fresh... but either would be very good with, hm, a garlic rub and lemon, lots of lemon, perhaps some rosemary too-” 

“Young man,” said the butcher, his eye twinkling. “Did you say you were new in this city? I don’t suppose you have a vocation yet?”

“My vocation is solely to please my wife,” said Wolf happily, carefully rolling the word over his tongue like a savory slice of steak. Virginia had to talk him out of saying ‘mate’ to regular people and use ‘wife’ instead, and he’d taken well to the word and its weighted meaning here in this world. 

That said, she quite benefitted from calling herself his mate when they were alone, given how riled up it made him. A well placed “Your mate  _ needs  _ you, Wolf...,” could land her in quite a happy place for hours, if they both had the energy for it. 

At Wolf’s words, the butcher laughed loudly and cheerfully. “Perhaps you could be convinced to work here, when you are not busy wooing your wife? I suspect with a little one on the way, you could use some cash, and I must say, I’ve never met a man with a nose like yours, or a passion for meat to match mine. What do you say?”

And like that, they’d spent the gift card and gained a job for Wolf. After all of the misfortune of what had happened through the mirror, Virginia felt that this must be some kind of karmic reward. She deserved, she thought, a bit of happiness after everything. 

Although, she realized, she shouldn’t discount what she already had. Her apartment, her Wolf, her future child, and the knowledge that she had a whole other world to visit, if she felt like stepping through the mirror. 

They hadn’t gone back often; Wolf worried what mirror travel would do to the baby, and there was always the risk that they couldn’t come back if the mirror broke. At four months, Virginia had decided they would have to wait for the baby to be born, Wolf agreeing with her as well.

“Do you miss home?” she asked Wof as they lay in their bed one night. Wolf was humming a song that Virginia didn’t recognize and thus assumed was from the other world, and thus her mind wandered. 

Wolf thoughtfully tapped on Virginia’s collarbone,his nimble fingers dancing along her skin. “Some parts. I miss how often I could run about in a truly wild forest- not that Central Park isn’t lovely!” he hastily assured her and she laughed, because compared to the expansive forests he knew, the park was a tame, meek garden. But she appreciated his reassurance nevertheless. “But really, Virginia, if I am with you, and our pup, I don’t have a whole lot to miss. This city has so much to offer as well. For example, once you get over the garbage smell, there are so many different smells to experience.”

A true New Yorker, Virginia sighed, “You’ll stop noticing it after a while, I promise.” She hoped, anyway. Maybe it was just because she had been elsewhere for a while, but she swore the garbage smell was worse now.

However, that didn’t matter in the end. She’d have to trust what he said, and given everything they’d been through, she saw no reason not to. “I’m glad you like it here.” She stroked down his tail, careful not to go against the grain of his fur, and he growled lowly, his eyes flashing amber.

“Careful, careful,” he whispered as she devilishly grinned. 

“My, my, what big-” she started, but was immediately shut up in the best way possible, fur and fangs and the strongest arms she’d ever had the privilege of lying in. 

\---

She had often wondered if there had been others like her that currently lived in the city that had, at some point, found the mirror. 

She just hadn’t actually expected to  _ find _ them. 

But perhaps by nature of having been in the Kingdoms, she was drawn by destiny to bump into others.

They tried to make a habit of passing through Central Park at least once a day, or else Wolf felt cooped up. Virginia had taken up biking again while Wolf preferred running. She'd convinced him to get ‘jogging clothes’ to keep up the appearance of normalcy, to blend in a bit more, even though he was content to run in whatever he was wearing. 

He'd taken to it well, and she had to laugh a bit at the seemingly normal pair they made, wife and husband exercising together in Central Park. As if one wasn’t basically a werewolf, and the other not the savior of a faraway land. 

"You know," said Wolf as they passed by a few other joggers, "When we go back, I ought to take you to the real forests. Now that I can run freely as a Wolf, I'd love to show you Sleeping Beauty's enchanted forest. It’s incredible there, the trees sing to you-”

"Excuse me!" interrupted a frantic voice behind them, and Virginia slowed her bike, ready with her go-to excuse of 'my husband's a writer, he makes up the most fantastical stories, doesn't he?’ when the woman running up to them continued, gasping, "Sleeping Beauty's enchanted forest? You've been there too?"

"Too?" blurted out Virginia, now completely stopped on her bike. 

The woman started laughing, her eyes crinkling as she said, "I lived there for two months! I had those songs stuck in my head for weeks after we left. Do you know the one that starts with 'Roots to dirt, dirt to stump, stump to sky-'"

"A classic, everyone knows that one!" yelped Wolf gleefully, and Virginia watched as the two of them instantly bonded, swapping stories as she realized that perhaps she and her mate were not so alone here as they thought. 

“You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to talk to other people about this,” said the woman, sounding extremely relieved, and Virginia realized at the moment that, honestly, so had she. 

Which is why, even though she still hadn’t felt entirely prepared to talk about everything that happened, she asked, “Would you - would you want to talk about it over coffee sometime?”

\---

The woman they'd met in the park, Rose, and her wife, Himeko, were thrilled to talk about the Kingdoms - it had been a dozen years since either of them had been there, and they had never actually been able to find the secret entrance in Central Park again. “We’d swear it moves around!” insisted Rose. “We looked and looked and eventually gave up.”

They swapped stories long into the night, Wolf happily serving them coffee and tea, which he had grown quite fond of during his time here. According to Rose, she had found Himeko by accident about eight months into her time in the Kingdoms. Himeko had only been there for about four weeks or so, and they’d stuck together as they looked for the mirror back for the rest of their time there. Eventually, it was not by mirror they returned, but by a wish granted by an old, powerful wizard who they had helped. 

“What rare, mystical item did you grant this wizard that made him perform such an incredible spell for you?” asked Wolf in awe. 

“I gave him my bottle of Advil and all of the notebooks and pens in my backpack,” said Himeko, and Virginia burst out laughing. “Apparently they go  _ nuts _ for that over there. I bartered away so much modern stuff- although I did keep the pepper spray the whole time, that came to be pretty useful once we ran into trolls. The wizard was so happy to have nice paper to write on, and he got chronic headaches, so the Advil pretty much sealed the deal.” Himeko had been a student on an exchange semester from Japan, and unfortunately had actually spent very little time in New York as she had fallen through at the start of her semester and found her way back by the end. Eventually, she had moved back to be with Rose after graduation, and they had stayed in the city ever since. 

“Unfortunately, when I fell through, I didn’t have much on me but my wallet, mp3 player, and headphones, so I didn’t have anything to barter,” sighed Rose, who had said she had been out jogging when she accidentally went through. “I did have my solar-powered battery charger though, so we at least had music while we were working on a farm out in Little Red Riding Hood’s Forest. Nothing like digging up turnips for months on end to grunge music. To this day, I can’t hear Nirvana without my hands cramping up.” She waved her hand. “But what’s your deal with the nine Kingdoms?” 

Virginia still was unsure of how to talk about it. Maybe one day she’d have the courage to tell them the full story. Wolf kept telling her how she was a hero,  _ the _ hero, of the nine Kingdoms, but she still sometimes felt her story wasn’t worth telling.

“You don’t have to be invisible, Virginia,” Wolf would always say to her whenever she tried to hide herself away, on days when everything felt too much. Maybe that’s why she liked New York City so much - it was easy to be lost in the crowd. 

Instead, Virginia told them just random, separate stories that happened during their time there, making sure not to have any sort of narrative that could be tracked within her words. She’d work up to it one day. 

But for now she was just happy to listen to her new friends talk about their time in the Kingdoms. Maybe it would draw her out of her well, to bring her to speak about her own times there with more pride than she currently had. 

“It’s so cute how you two fell in love in the Kingdoms too,” said Rose, and she looked over, smiling at Himeko. “You know, despite all of the random violence and death at every turn, it was kind of a romantic place, huh?” 

“Everywhere is romantic when my darling mate Virginia is there with me,” said Wolf, clearly excited he could use the term ‘mate’ with other people now. She leaned her head against his chest on the couch and smiled up at him as he continued to chat eagerly with them.

She’d been worried that he would not find friends here, despite being an incredibly friendly person, but she’d forgotten how magic seemed to follow him wherever he went. She’d felt guilty at times that by her mere existence - and the baby’s - she had taken Wolf away from his home. However, he had assured her time and time again, you can’t keep a wolf away from what they want, and if he was here, well, wasn’t he where he wanted to be?

\---

  
  


The other trimesters passed, and while Virginia fretted often about how to explain what would clearly be a half-wolf baby to the nurses, Wolf didn’t seem particularly concerned. “If he’s healthy, they shouldn’t worry about anything,” said Wolf, cuddling Virginia close as she read through yet another book on wolves she’d gotten from the library. She’d even gone as far as to call a wolf sanctuary in Indiana to ask about how they fed their pups there. “But if reading about it again, and again, and… again makes you feel better, then we will keep going back to the library.” 

Virginia gnawed on some beef jerky and turned the page. She also wondered if the pup would have a tail when he came out, but, there was no point stressing about that until it happened.

And then, much like all of the other important events in her life, she was caught by surprise two weeks early, and the delivery was quick and while not painless, bearable. 

Thankfully tailless upon delivery (for now, Wolf assured her, “some Wolves are born tailless and it comes later”), they were sent home in a timely manner and then, suddenly, they were alone with this little, loud, pink, dark-haired baby. 

Virginia had taken off work as they adjusted to the baby being there, and had built up just enough in savings to be somewhat comfortable as Wolf did his shifts at the butcher shop and brought home meat to fill out their food needs. Much to Virginia’s happiness, the baby took to eating like a normal human baby for the first few weeks, and then eventually smaller pieces of meat. She felt some concern at first over it until Wolf reassured her that the baby was taking quite well to the mix of milk and meat, like a wolf pup should. 

So after four months of the usual- sleepless nights, constant feedings, and occasional bouts of family howling that Virginia eventually gave into doing as well, to feel included - Rose and Himeko pressured the two of them to take a weekend for themselves. 

“And you know the feeding schedule? And how small to cut the meat? And you  _ have _ to howl with him or else he thinks he doesn’t have a pack-” said Wolf worriedly, squishing his baby’s little cheeks together. “Oh, my big healthy boy! The biggest wolf in the New York kingdom! Yes you are!”

“Are you sure we can just leave him? Just like that?” asked Virginia, nervous to be away despite that she had not slept without waking up in the middle of the night for months and desperately needed a vacation. She knew, logically, that she should leave, and that she did  _ want _ to leave and have Wolf to herself without one ear being constantly alert for any cries (or howls). It must have been her new motherhood making her like that, because she didn’t recall being this attuned to small noises before. 

(She tried to ignore this other feeling creeping up inside her- would the baby remember this? Being left? Did he know she was coming back? How could she make that clearer?)

“I have a dozen nieces and nephews, I know how this goes,” said Rose, shooing Virginia out the door as she poked her head back in the entryway for the third time. “And you’re not ever going to find other babysitters that will feed a four month old child raw meat so keep us in your good graces and go when we tell you to!”

After one last cuddle with the baby, they were out in their rented car, heading out to the forests of upstate New York where Rose’s family had a small cabin that she had given them the keys for. “I haven’t slept in a cabin since the Seven Dwarves’ cabin,” asked Virginia as they sped down the highway, the city merely a speck in the distance behind them. “This time I will have significantly less issues with my hair.”

“It’s getting longer,” said Wolf, reaching out to stroke it. “But in a good, not-cursed way. My Virginia is luscious with or without long hair.” 

Fully used to these effusive compliments (but always grateful), Virginia hummed appreciatively at the pleasant touch as she flicked on the radio, musing on if she should pick up a CD at a store on the way there. Was it too short a ride to bother? Or would she cement the music she’d hear as ‘that one road trip’ music forever, a nostalgic trip down memory lane each time she turned it on? 

Having grown up in New York City, it wasn’t like she’d had ample experience roadtripping. And this was only a few hours of driving or so, hardly a road trip, but it felt like one all the same.

Something had been itching under her skin since she’d returned from the kingdoms. She had never considered herself particularly adventurous before her ordeal. She was just existing, moving forward as best she could. But since she’d landed back in New York City, something inside her ached to see something new, feel that thrill of  _ Oh! What’s This?  _ This drive to explore, seek out new stimulation. 

She mentioned this to Wolf, who laughed. “It’s because you’re with me now! You’re part of a pack. You’ve got a mate and a pup, you’ve got the itch to run now just like we do.”

“I don’t think being a wolf is contagious,” said Virginia, rolling down the window and inhaling the fresh air that rushed in the car. She’d kept it down as they left the city, but now they were fairly out of ‘choking smog’ zone (at least, that’s how it smelled to her now - from garbage to smog, the city seemed to extend for miles.)

They were now on the woodsier roads, and the foliage was showing off its autumn colors with gusto. Virginia smiled softly at the bursts of red and yellow that greeted her, and she took in the savory scent of musky fallen deciduous leaves and the sharp fragrant pine needles. 

“I know that look,” said Wolf, grinning, and she turned to him, bemused. “You’re sensing the true essence of the forest. Your sense of smell has gotten better, hasn’t it?”

“Are you serious-” she started, and then coughed as a wave of something that  _ reeked _ blew past her nose. “Oh what was  _ that _ ?” She was viciously reminded of her time in the swamp in the kingdoms and wondered if they were near one, although that wasn’t likely given their geography. Certainly smelled like it, though. 

“Skunk, but far enough way that a human couldn’t smell it,” said Wolf gleefully. “I was right! Perhaps it was carrying my pup that did it, although given how often we make sweet, intoxicating love, I wonder if that did the trick-”

Virginia promptly tapped his nose and said, “I really doubt you -  _ sexed _ me into being a Wolf. Maybe it’s because I’ve been cooped up in the city and haven’t really breathed since I left the kingdoms.” 

“We’ll see, my darling mate,” hummed Wolf, and he stuck his head out the window. “This is just like the woods in Little Red Riding Hood’s Kingdom! The way the trees are, the mountains… I would have run in them more, except, well, how anti-wolf they are in that region. Given who the ruler is and all.” 

“You never got to explore a wolf-friendly version of the kingdoms, did you?” asked Virginia as the thought dawned, somewhat solemnly, on her. “The pardon was all because of you but you never got to really benefit from that.”

“Nonsense, my most scrumptious mate,” said Wolf, his voice muffled as the wind rushed by his face. “All wolves in the kingdoms benefitted. That’s all I need to know to be satisfied.” He pulled his head back in through the window and once again reached out to stroke Virginia’s hair. “I don’t regret that I am here, my love. You know you can’t keep a wolf away from what they want. And when we go back to visit, I’ll take advantage of freely running in the kingdoms then.” 

She wasn’t sure if she would ever feel fully well having been the main reason why Wolf was here and not at his home. But bit by bit, she was easing into what she was now realizing was this fear of being needed. 

Because what happens when you’re needed, and then gone? And he was stuck here in a life that didn’t fit him? And a child, a child left all alone. 

“You told me I could tell you anything and it wouldn’t scare you,” she said to Wolf as they continued to drive through twisting roads covered in leaves, barely able to see the bright yellow line that separated the lanes due to the masses of brown, yellow, and orange. “So, I have something to tell you.”

“It’s very hard to scare me, my love,” said Wolf. “I can smell your fear, though. It’s a sad fear, I think. What’s got you scared?”

She wondered if Wolf was right about her becoming more like him, either due to carrying their baby, or just constant proximity, but it would certainly be interesting to see if she could ever smell these things on him. But for now, it was one sided, and she had to accept that her emotions weren’t as invisible as she would like them to be. 

“What if I end up like her?” asked Virginia, her voice trembling as she tilted the wheel, blinking against the bright sun reflected on a lake they were passing. “Is being a shitty mom in my blood?”

“I don’t know about what’s in your blood,” said Wolf, and Virginia was glad he was taking this seriously and not shooting down her thoughts instantly. “So I’d have to think about your personality. And I think, if you ever were to leave, you’d probably let me know first. You’re an honest person like that. And I’d like to think that you love me enough that your last act would be gentle. You’re very kind, Virginia. So you would already be doing better than she did, even if you had to leave.”

It would be very bad for their safety to cry while driving, so she tried her best to blink them away as she said, “Thank you, Wolf.”

“But you won’t,” said Wolf confidently. “You have shown you do not run away from what’s difficult. You are loyal, clever, and hardworking. I would not have picked a mate who was anything less.”

And that’s when she had to pull over and cry, forehead to steering wheel, as Wolf kissed the side of her face and pulled her as close as the joystick would allow. They passed fifteen minutes there, quiet except for her soft hiccuping sniffles and the soft  _ tink _ of falling leaves hitting the top of their car. 

Virginia swore that she had never heard them quite that well before. 

\-----

The cabin was pleasantly modest- one bedroom, a kitchenette, a comfortable living room, and a small patio outside. There were a few other cabins down the road, but judging by the lack of cars outside or disturbance in the leaves of the driveways, Virginia suspected they were alone.

Which was probably for the best, since Wolf was going to be sprinting around wildly and scaring the hell out of anyone who wasn’t prepared to see him in feral mode. 

In a very fortunate turn of events, Wolf informed Virginia when they’d first returned to New York City that ‘the full moon wouldn’t be as much of a problem anymore’. Thinking he was downplaying it for her sake, she prodded him until he admitted that, in lieu of the violent ferocious beast he became before, he would become ferocious in, well,  _ other _ ways. 

“Once mated, a wolf settles down a bit, the boil in their blood goes to a light simmer,” explained Wolf to her when she had noted the first full moon on the calendar after their return. “And they release all that energy by spending that time with their mate.” He paused, and then said, “Preferably naked in the moonlight, in direct view of the sky, bathing in the splendor of-”

Virginia had agreed to leave the curtains and windows open during these times if that’s what he needed but  _ no,  _ the roof was not an option, and that was final. 

(He had pointed out that their first time had indeed been in full view of the sky in the woods. True, but still, she really felt that on the roof of their apartment building was pushing it.)

They weren’t here on one of those times - it just hadn’t aligned with Rose and Himeko’s schedules, so this vacation would have just regular Wolf “zoomies”, as Virginia called them, happing. After they parked, he leapt out of the car with great enthusiasm and bounded about the cabin, sniffing around it to make sure they were safe. She watched this with mild amusement, and then called him over to help carry their bags in. 

They passed the rest of the afternoon hiking, and Virginia wryly thought of the last time she’d stomped through forests. There was no weight of an entire land on her back this time, just her backpack full of trail mix, apples, and water. Her mate reached out his hand to help her over a particularly large rock scrabble and she steadied herself on his shoulder as she looked at the view from the top of the cliff they were walking alongside. 

“This is… incredible,” she breathed out, and inhaled. The forest brimmed with vibrant life, leaves and little creatures and the hum of the wind through the trees, and it all swirled around her. 

“You’re right,” she admitted as Wolf took a deep breath beside her too. “I don’t understand how, but you’re right. I think I can smell and hear everything better.” 

“That’s wolf magic for you,” said Wolf, and he slid his arms around her waist as he looked out at the forest below, stretching out in a vast carpet of orange and brown. “Run with me tonight. You’ll feel the urge. I know you will, being out in the woods like this. I’ll teach you how to run.” 

“I already know how to run, you saw me do it plenty back in the kingdoms,” said Virginia, leaning her head against his shoulder. 

“Not the right way,” said Wolf, his voice dipping lower. “Not in the way that wolves like us run.” 

“Wolves like us,” repeated Virginia, and something thrummed underneath her skin, calling out, singing a song of the exhilaration and moonlight. 

\----

Once upon a time, there was a waitress, a wolf, and a baby who lived on the edge of the forest. 

She told her baby boy the usual stories about Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and so on. But she also told him the stories of Acorn the dwarf, of mice in a castle who saved her, of a friendly, confused dog who tried his best. The wolf laughed at the fairy tale films she showed their baby, and then told his pup the real versions of these tales. 

Happily ever after, one would think, seems somewhat boring. However, for the wolf and the waitress, they were well aware of what comes after the slipper fits, or the curse-lifting kiss is bequeathed. There was still work to be done, even if it was just waking up every morning to continue living. And given that she was with a wolf and a pup, the waitress decided that Happily Ever After was definitely not boring. 

Sometimes tiring. Often surprising. 

But it was still, in the end, happily ever after. 


End file.
